I’ve given this some thought lately…this is what I would like to see for Chun-Li buffs. Something to make her more competitive but not AE Yun retarded.
Must Have Buffs:
Either…
– Make Tenshokyaku a regular move.
LK MK HK EX Versions. All versions FADC-able. EX with invincibility. Ideally all versions can be combo’ed into. This gives her another meterless combo option and also helps to cover some of her AA problems, specifically dive-kicks. With no invincibility on the normal versions she’ll need EX to make it a valid reversal, so it’ll be similar to EX SBK. However being able to do EX Tenshokyaku FADC will give her one very expensive get out of jail free card, where now she has none.
Or…
– Expand hitbox/shrink hurtbox on EX SBK.
It’s well known that dive kicks and certain cross-ups can trade if not beat EX SBK. For a move that costs DB charge, meter, usually leads to no follow-up damage, and cannot be FADC’d to safety, I think that’s horrible. This move should be guaranteed. So dive kickers can’t just have their way with her, they’ll have to find a way to get her to stand up before trying to get fancy with dive kicks. Since this move is easily safe-jumped, and then lost because Chun loses her charge, I think it should beat anything that isn’t a safe jump.
I don’t think she needs both, one or the other will do. Personally I’d like to see EX SBK buffed, but either I would be happy with.
– Make U1 Invincible to air fireballs
This is pretty much the anti-Akuma buff. There’s a lot about that matchup that is just awful for Chun. It doesn’t help that he can run away all day and there isn’t much Chun can do to discourage him. Letting Chun’s U1 blow through air fireballs will at least give him a reason to stay on the ground. Together with the Tenshokyaku or EX SBK buff, she’ll have better ways to defend herself against the vortex. Even with this Akuma would still be a tough match, but it would be a lot more manageable.
Without these changes no matter what else we do to Chun she’ll still get run over by the dive kickers and Akuma. That alone is enough to keep her out of competitive play.
Buffs I’d Like (But not as necessary as the ones above)
– Increased vitality
There’s zero reason why Chun has to pay the vagina tax. Esepcially with her meh defense.
– Increased damage on Hasanshu, +1F advantage on hit
Slow overhead that is beaten easily by jabs and loses completely to focus. She should get more of a reward for landing it. This would let her land more damaging combos if she does land it. Still a risky move to throw out, but with more payoff.
– Increased damage on sweep, EX Legs
Sweep should go back to Super damage value. For being her B&B the EX Legs combo doesn’t do a whole lot of damage. She should get a little more mileage out of EX meter usage. Buffed damage on sweep lets her get more mileage out of HK/MK Legs -> Sweep combos.
– Fix whatever it is with the hitboxes that makes EX Legs whiff on crouching Blanka
Seriously. Please.
That’s all she needs to be competitive. I don’t think any of this would make her broken - she has a lot of offensive options but they’re all risky and vulnerable so Chun would still have to be smart about her method of attack. This would just make her risk/reward ratio a little better than it is now.